Plasma Membrane Quotes

Touch is... one of the most ancient transactions, a defiance of the plasma membrane and the loneliness it brought.

A cell has a nucleus and some other parts like membranes, plasmas and other stuff. Its energy is made up of protons, neurons and electrons. Genetic scientists, however, have discovered that the majority of a cell is made up of something unknown. Something akin to space filled with electromagnetic fibers of light. The human body is made up of some 37 trillion cells. What do you think you are made of? Who do you think you are?

The following images for the remaining terms should then be bound in some way to our Mnemonic Unit Nexus (MUN). The next terms to be remembered, and their associated MUs, are: Nucleus – N,C,L – A naked woman, holding cash and covering her privates with leaves Mitochondria –M,I,C – A monkey, frozen in ice, being choked. Golgi Apparatus – G,O, A,P – A little girl with an owl on her right arm, and apple in her left hand, and being patted on the head. Endoplasmic Reticulum – E,D,P,L, R,T,C,U – An Executive, holding a dog, and, wearing no pants, with lash marks on his legs. He is riding a Rhino made of titanium that is standing on a pile of cash and is holding an umbrella for the executives. Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum, S,M,E,D,P,R,T,C,U – A muddy shovel in the hand of an identical EDPL as shown in the previous image, also riding on the rhino. Thus, on the Rhino, there are seated two EDPLs. Lysosomes – L,I,S,O – A lion, playing a silver guitar, opening a door. Plasma Membrane – P,L,M,B – A priest holding a light bulb in his right hand and a mirror in his left while standing on a pile of bricks. DNA –D,N,A – A dinosaur Cytosol – S,I,T,O – A snake, wearing a tie, with its back end wrapped around a flute and with an orange in its mouth.

A person who exercises frequently in zone 2 is improving their mitochondria with every run, swim, or bike ride. But if you don’t use them, you lose them. This is another reason why zone 2 is such a powerful mediator of metabolic health and glucose homeostasis. Muscle is the largest glycogen storage sink in the body, and as we create more mitochondria, we greatly increase our capacity for disposing of that stored fuel, rather than having it end up as fat or remaining in our plasma. Chronic blood glucose elevations damage organs from our heart to our brain to our kidneys and nearly everything in between—even contributing to erectile dysfunction in men. Studies have found that while we are exercising, our overall glucose uptake increases as much as one-hundred-fold compared to when we are at rest. What’s interesting is that this glucose uptake occurs via multiple pathways. There is the usual, insulin-signaled way that we’re familiar with, but exercise also activates other pathways, including one called non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake, or NIMGU, where glucose is transported directly across the cell membrane without insulin being involved at all. This in turn explains why exercise, especially in zone 2, can be so effective in managing both type 1 and type 2 diabetes:

All steroid hormones in vertebrates are built of cholesterol. The choice of cholesterol as the foundation for these hormones makes sense, because the body brims with it. Even if you never touch cholesterol-rich food such as eggs, oil, and meat, your liver continues to make cholesterol around the clock, and with reason. Cholesterol is an essential component of the plasma membrane, the fatty, protective coat surrounding every cell. At least half of the average cell’s membrane consists of cholesterol, much more than half in neurons. Without cholesterol, your cells would fall apart. Without cholesterol, new cells could not be manufactured. There would be no way of replacing the cells of the skin, gut, and immune system, which die by the millions each day. Cholesterol is the fat of the earth and the fat of the brain.

So…what are we doing in class today?” I ask Adam, hoping that my question might stir him into action. I also ask to satisfy my curiosity. Adam sighs, before copying Jen. “Oh…just the structure of a plasma membrane.” He says in a matter of fact tone. “Nothing too taxing.” My silent reply says everything. Oh boy!